Tuesday, August 3, 2010

(CNN) -- The office of a controversial Arizona sheriff is investigating an alleged threat against the lawman it says came in the form of a text message from a throwaway cell phone in Mexico, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lisa Allen said that the FBI is assisting in the probe of the threat against Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

But FBI Special Agent Manuel Johnson, a spokesman for the bureau's Phoenix office, said that he knows of no FBI investigation, although, he said, they were aware of it. Johnson said the bureau would pitch in if Arpaio's office requested their assistance.